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Bordesley green

Thanks Nick , i feel vindicated , i thought i had posted in the correct place . If its good enough for Postie then its the correct place . Cheers mate .I cant say i take too well to being told what to do . God Bless Mate . Max
 
postie said:
The site you are talking about was a workshop that specialised in Jaguar repairs and rebuilds.
It was run by a very jovial Jamaican chap who told me that he was going to do up old Models and ship them abroad because they fetch more money there.
He decided to increase his workshop space by knocking down a few walls, unfortunately the walls were load bearing and the upstairs fell into the downstairs, wrecking all his "stock".
I never saw him after that.
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Was he anywhere near his 'stock' when the chicken licken thing occured - might explain why you never saw much of him after that Jim. Poor soul. The best laid plans o' mice and men aft gang aglay..?
 
Could someone reinsert these very-well-know-locally surnames and give me the location of the shops? db84124

-----_of_Bordesley_Green.jpg
 
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db84124 said:
Could someone reinsert these very-well-know-locally surnames and give me the location of the shops? db84124
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It all depends when the photo was taken. In my day, 60 years ago, the fruit and veg shop was Corbetts. I cannot remember the others although there was a Pearks in the same row. That is providing I am right in thinking the shops are between Carlton Road and Victoria Street.

Old Boy
 
Alberta,

I have just noticed your theory. It holds water and is the most likely suggestion yet. However, if true, the person responsible forgot Wales and Scotland. In my school days most of our teachers were Welsh.

Old Boy
 
..... as were the doctors; Doctors Bowen, Lloyd (beside the Victoria pub), Lloyd (Blake Lane), Lloyd (Grange Road/Green Lane), James and Benbow were all Welshmen. db84124

Old Boy,
The photograph is as I remember it in the late '50s/early '60s, so a little later - and not between Carlton Road and Victoria Street, but a little further out of town. David
 
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The picture in # 190 is between Jim Plumleys and Fifth Avenue.
The greengrocer is Bruce, but I'm not sure about the other one..
 
You're absolutely right, Postie - but I knew you knew! Bruce's of Bordesley Green it is. Any suggestions for the other blanked out surname? David
 
The shops were between Blake Lane and Fifth Avenue and were G.H.Bruce Greengrocer 439-441 and Harry Beardes Fish Fryer 443.

Phil
 
Excellent, Phil, I knew it wouldn't take long for you sharp-eyed, knowledgeable people to come up with the goods .......
Phil, could you possibly let me know what was on the other side of Bruce's? The house/shop numbers you have posted don't coincide with the photograph; Beardes was on the town side of Bruce's, so I would have expected it to have been 437. I seem to remember that the fish 'n chip shop was on the other side of the greengrocer's, up three or four steps directly in front of the 53/54 bus stop. David
 
The butchers shop was #437. I don't recall Harry Beardes being there at all and, refreshing my memory with Kellys, if he ever owned #437 it must have been very fleetingly. It's a puzzle.
 
Bruces had premises on both sides othe road, practically opposite each other.
 
David

This is the relevant excerpt from the 1967 Kelly's Directory. It gives the Fried Fish shops as Nicks by then.
here is Fifth av
433 Woodgate Mrs. E. M,grocer
435 Edwards P. P. shopkpr
437 Stokes Bros, butchers
439/441 Bruce G. H. greengrocer
443 Nicks, fried fish dlr
449 Swift WaMy Ltd. turf agts
451 Plumley Jas.bldrs.' mer
453 Railway Shield & OilerCo. railway stores contractors
463 Payne Harry H. Ltd.boot & shoe reprs
... here is Blake la ,.
Hope this helps,

Phil
 
How many of you lovely folk remember the Post Office and public toilets just opposite the Vic at the end of Little Green Lane. This very monochromatic copy from Bob Marsden's 'Small Heath Remembered' book, brought back a few memories. I'd completely forgotten it was there. My last shot of the Vic...well nearly...is also included for interest.
 
Dennis Williams said:
Max, any idea who owns these once lovely old jags depicted on the Google shot of the Victoria Road junction? They seem to have been abandoned there for many a year now, and it looks deserted. There were even more at one time I seem to remember, so at some time I suppose there was a commercial purpose to these premises. Other pics of this area for interest and comparison. I remember the old Municipal Bank shell in the current shot, but not the big Barclays Bank where the old Jags now reside.
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Garage was in the 70's two 3 storey shops/houses fronting Bordesley Green, and two 2 storey workshops at the rear with entances on Cherrywood Road as now. It was all as one unit with a flat roof built over the open yard about 1972 (built by the Garage owner Brian Edwards, chief mechanic Kevin O'Connor and myself). Brian used to run around in Mk 10 Jags in those days - long before Wally Crookes aka Kingston Garage moved in and "inadvertantly modified" the place! I left there in '75 and Brian moved out about '76 - 77. Anybody remember the place as Brian Edwards Motor Repairs or Edward Brittain as it was known in the last yearor so?
 
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Many thanks Dave (and Jim), all is now revealed and I can rest easy. I remember the Mark 10, my boss had one. I later had a 420 G (two tanks, 14 mpg on a run) and enjoyed every single minute of it. The smell of the leather was reward enough. Fond memories...

I think Jimbo recently mentioned Jim Plumleys, and here's a nice shot of his place. His manager ran the Bordesley ?Rovers football side, but I can't remember his name... a pox on this Alzheimer's...
 
..... and again Postie's spot on. The shop opposite the greengrocer's was occupied by Roger, Mr Bruce, Snr's son. He sold records and had a very successful disco business after shop hours and at weekends. He loaded his turntables, amp, speakers and a heap of records into a large Ford estate car and went as far afield as, for example, The Oak, Hockley Heath.
I know …. I used to give him a hand with his equipment. David
 
Many thanks, Phil, it certainly does! (pmc1947 eh? I was born that year too)
So my memory isn't too bad! But does Kelly's occasionally make mistakes, or was your initial posting placing Harry Beardes at # 443 taken from an earlier edition?
I remember when #449 wasn’t yet a turf accountant’s (as in your post #196), but as it was in the photograph in Post #199. I can’t explain why its sign says “Kenn’s”, in the late ‘50s/ early 60s the shop was owned by the family Talkington, and I’ve never seen the christian name written with two “n”s. Could someone explain this? David
 
Does this help? 1955 Electoral Roll listing. Kenneth Torkington obviously called his shop KENN'S by shortening his christian name in this perhaps unconventional fashion. The photo is dated 1961 in Alton's Book by the way.
 
And finally folks - David Harvey once more shows Bruce's and Plumley's in Sepia toned splendour circa 1948. The descriptions are very informative (IMHO) if you ignore the techie Tram stuff...
 
The jags are no longer there , in fact it looks rather nice !!!! The place is now Kingston Car repairs .I was unable to find out more info as i was on the bus. Max
 
db84124 said:
But does Kelly's occasionally make mistakes, or was your initial posting placing Harry Beardes at # 443 taken from an earlier edition?
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Hi David

The earlier version of Kelly's that I have is 1950, in that the Fish Frying Shop is owned by a George King. The reason why I named the shop (443) next to the greengrocers at 339-341 as Harry Beardes is because I have the same photo as you.

Phil
 
Dennis, in Post #202, you ask whether your contribution helps or not. It certainly does! Your having proven the shortening of Kenneth to the unusual Kenn clarifies the situation. Personally, I had never previously come across this unconventional abbreviated form of Kenneth. I had thought myself into believing that Kenn was a surname. Thank you, David
Thanks also - apart from your correct spelling of "Torkington"! - for Post #205. The description of that short stretch of Bordesley Green makes fascinating reading; excuse me, but even with the detailed explanations of trams. When I came to live "just around the corner "in Blake Lane, trams had long since disappeared.
Thanks again, David
 
Hello Phil, the photo I posted was thanks to Kevkonk, who found a stack of photographs in a skip, salvaged them and posted them on YouTube. I happened upon the "video" and posted it on this forum as "A Wealth of old Photographs of Birmingham" (or words to that effect) before finding out that we have a member registered as kevkonk too! With such as unusual user name, it must be the same person although I've enquired twice via two different threads without receiving confirmation.
If you look at the slight slope on the photo - and are fully familiar with Bordesley Green between Blake Lane and Fifth Avenue - you will realise that Bruce's if further from the city centre than the adjoining shop. Being closer, the house/shop number - by convention - is usually lower. This struck me immediately. Thanks for being so forthcoming with your invaluable information. David
 
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